Bolster for steam-shovels.



FIQB.

W. SHEPPARD.

BOLSTER FOR STEAM SHOVELS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 10, 1009.

Patented Jan. 25,1910.

INVENTOR Att'y.

mp M. I. orwuu co PNOYDMV PNEII wnsnmawn n way/69 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM SHEPPARD, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN LOCOMO- TIVE COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

BOLSTER FOR STEAM-SHOVELS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 25, 1910.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VViLLmM Snnrmno, of Paterson, in the county of Passaic and State of New Jersey, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Bolsters for Steam-Shovels, of which improvement the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a bolster for a steam shovel, by the use of which the steam shovel may be rendered adaptable to be supported either 011 ordinary car trucks for traversing railroad tracks, or on road wheels, so as to be moved over common roads, as circumstances may, in either case, require, the change from one to the other supporting means being capable of being readily made and without necessitating additional parts.

The improvement claimed is hereinafter fully set forth.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a side view, in elevation, of the frame of a steam shovel, supported on trucks for running on a railroad; Fig. 2 an end view of the same; Fig. 3, a side view, when supported on road wheels; and, Fig. at, an end view, when so supported.

My invention is herein shown as applied in connection with the frame, 1, of a steam shovel, the operative mechanism of which may be of any suitable known type, and which, as it does not form any part of my invention, is not illustrated. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the steam shovel frame, including, of course, whatever mechanism may be carried thereon, is adapted to travel on a railroad track, being supported on and carried by two car trucks, 2, 2, which may be of any suitable and preferred type, and are adapted to swivel, in the ,usual manner, about pivots or center pins near the ends of the frame.

In order to enable the steam shovel to be readily adapted to be moved, on road wheels, over common roads, or if originally supported on road wheels, to be transferred to car trucks for running over railroad tracks, I provide, for one of the end portions of the frame, a metal bolster, which is preferably an integral casting, the body, 8, of which is of substantially cylindrical form, and is made hollow or tubular from each of its ends to its middle portion, to receive the axles, 5 of road wheels, 5, when the steam shovel is to be adapted for transportation over common roads. Lateral flanges, 8, are formed on the top of the bolster, and are connected to the frame, 1, of the steam shovel, by bolts or rivets. A center bearing, 8", adapted to fit the center bearing, 2, of a car truck, 2, when the frame is supported thereon, projects centrally from the bottom of the bolster, and side bearings, 8, are formed on the bottom of the bolster, in proper positions to stand over the side bearings of the truck frame. Cylindrical bearings, S, for the reception of ack arms, 9, when the shovel is mounted on trucks, project downwardly from the outer ends of the bolster. The jack arms, 9, are, as in ordinary steam shovel practice, supported on blocking when the shovel is in operation, and serve to prevent it from tipping over when the boom is swung to one side or the other.

Rectangular slots, 8", extend through the body of the bolster, at the inner ends of the bores thereof which receive the road wheel axles, 5, for the insertion of wedges for driving out the axles when trucks are to be substituted for road wheels, and rectangular slots, 8 extend through the wall of the body surrounding the bores, through which wedges are driven for the purpose of driving the road wheel axles home. For the support of the opposite end of the frame of the steam shovel, I provide a reversible bolster, by the use of which said opposite end may be supported either on road wheels or on a car track, as desired. The reversible bolster referred to constitutes the subject matter of Letters Patent of the United States No. 93%t,9-tt1, granted and issued to American Locomotive Company, as my asssignee, under date of September 21, 1909, and will not therefore be herein set forth.

It will be seen that the improved bolster above described is of substantial and inexpensive construction, and of ready application in connection with the steam shovel frames and trucks in ordinary use, and also that the changes from truck support to road wheel support, and vice versa, maybe quickly and easily made, without necessitating the use of extraneous appliances.

I claim as my invention and desire to se cure by Letters Patent:

1. The combination of a steam shovel frame, a bolster fixed thereto, means for receiving a wheeled road axle within said bolster, means for engaging said bolster with a railroad car truck, and a wheeled support fitted to said bolster.

2. The combination of a steam shovel frame, a bolster fixed thereto and having a center bearing on its lower side and a longitudinal bore for the reception of a road wheel axle, and a wheeled support fitted to said bolster.

3. The combination of a steam shovel frame, a bolster fixed thereto and having a center bearing 011 its lower side and a longitudinal bore for the reception of a road wheel axle, and a railroad car truck having a center bearing fitting that of the bolster.

4:. A bolster for the frame of a steam shovel, having a body provided with upper flanges for attachment to the frame, a longitudinal bore for the reception of a road wheel axle, and a center bearing on its lower side for connection with the center bearing of a railroad car truck.

5. A bolster for the frame of a steam shovel, having a body provided with upper flanges for attachment to the frame, a longitudinal bore for the reception of a road wheel axle, a center bearing on its lower side for connection with the center bearing of a railroad car truck, and lower side bearings in position to stand over the side bearings of a railroad car truck.

6. A bolster for the frame of a steam ends.

WILLIAM SHEPPARD. Witnesses:

A. TrrUs, GEORGE WILKE. 

